Return of a Memory
by Of-Sprits-and-Nightmares
Summary: Kind of a sequal to The War at Home, but with this you will see more from the OCs Malik and Minato. Xion returns, but she doesn't remember who she is or who anyone else is. Xehanort has taken this opportunity to try to use her as another vessel for him. All Kingdom Hearts Characters belong to Square/Disney.
1. Chapter 1: Waking Up

Weeks turned into months, Summer changed from Autumn and Autumn to Winter in the majority of the worlds. Daisuke, Kyo and Roxas still lived in Twilight Town, though things weren't the same without Xion. Dai wasn't as playful as he had been before, now spending much of his time training. Kyo was quieter now than she used to be, but she would would now spend her time either reading or training. Roxas had, with Minato and Malik's help, took care of them and trained with them.

Things were not all bad though. Malik and his wife, Elwing had found their missing daughters, Kyoko and Yumi... Well, more like the twin girls had found their parents. The four spent most of their time at their villa in Radiant Garden, enjoying the peace. Minato continued his duties as Dragon King, taking time to visit with his sisters and helping Roxas when the Nobody needed it.

Christmas was only a few weeks away, and Malik had invited Minato, Roxas, Kyo, and Daisuke to spend the week of the holiday at the villa, thinking that the best way to spend the holiday season was to be together with family. He, Elwing, and his daughters were busy cleaning out the unused rooms for their extended family members when he sensed a presence that had been missing since summer. "Xion..." He whispered.

* * *

Roxas had been having dreams of Xion's return for the past week. Each one was the same, Xion waking up in a dark world before being surrounded by what looked like Organization members. The only one who showed his face was Saix. The sight of the blue-haired man always made the blond wake up, angry at first, but his anger would fade into worry. {What if Saix finds her first...?}

Calling up Minato, the Nobody briefly described his dream to him before asking if he could watch the kids while he checked out a few worlds. As usual, Minato agreed, showing up later in the day. "Thanks Minato.." Roxas said after saying good-bye to the kids. "Bring her home.." Was all Minato replied with as Roxas opened a dark corridor and grabbed his coat, throwing it on before walking through.

* * *

A raven haired woman was laying unconscious in an empty, frozen road. She was wearing black jeans and a dark purple top with a warm black jacket over it. Slowly, she opened her eyes and sat up, wincing as she moved due to a dull pain in her left shoulder. The woman looked around and slowly stood up, ignoring the pain as she realized that she couldn't remember anything. {Where am I?... Who am I?...} She mentally asked herself as she started walking through the empty, snow covered city in hopes to trigger some sort of memory.

The woman hadn't been wandering for long when a large black portal opened up in front of her. Instinctively taking a couple steps back, she watched as eight cloaked figures walked out and stood in front of her. "Number XIV..." A vaguely familiar voice mused, triggering several small memories to flash in her mind of a time when she wore the same coat the people in front of her. "Who... Who are you...?" She hesitantly asked. "Poppet doesn't remember who we are?" A different voice asked.

Instinct was screaming at the woman to flee from the cloaked figures. She somehow knew them, and they weren't friends. Rather than wait around for someone to tell her how she knew them, she instantly turned around and dashed away from them. The two cloaked figures that had spoke dashed after her, leaving the other six to wait for their capture of the Memory being.

One of the figures appeared in front of her, forcing her to stop, allowing the other to catch up. "Number XIV, stop this nonsense and return with us." The man behind her demanded as he roughly grabbed her arm, instantly sending her into a panic. "Stay away!" She shouted as sudden waves of light erupted from her, forcing both figures at incredible speeds into the walls of the surrounding buildings.

In her hand after the light had faded, was a large blue and silver key. She only had time to glance at it as the one who had grabbed her got up, his hood pulled back to show a man with golden eyes, blue hair, and an x-shaped scar on his face as well as a snarl that sent shivers down her spine. "You shouldn't have done that," He spat as he summoned a claymore. Once again, rather than fight, she turned tail and ran. Growling in anger, the blue-haired man gave chase.

After what felt like an hour, the woman had lost her pursuer by ducking in and out of buildings and allies. Allowing herself a small break to catch her breath, she ducked into another ally and hid behind an empty dumpster. It seemed that everything was empty here. She closed her eyes and sat down, placing her giant key on the ground next to her, cold and exhausted, forgetting about her tracks in the snow.

Not far from where she was resting, a dark corridor opened up and a spiky blond haired man, wearing one of the same black Organization coats, stepped through. He looked around the empty City That Never Was and noticed the tracks in the snow. "Xion..?" He called out loud as he slowly approached the ally.

Her eyes snapped open as she heard the male's voice, and realizing her mistake, she grabbed her key and stood up. She glared and pointed it at the man, causing him to come to a halt. This one seemed different compared to the other cloaked people she had encountered, but she didn't dare take a risk and trust him. "Who are you?" The Raven haired woman demanded.

Roxas was shocked. He knew that he had found his Xion, but she acted like she had never met him before. Worse than that, she was treating him as an enemy. "Xion.. It's me, Roxas.. Don't you rembember me..?" He asked her, his blue eyes showing pain. How could she not remember the person who has known her the longest..?

Xion hesitated as some memories flooded her mind. Ice cream on a tower. Warm, tropical ocean waters... A fight. When had she fought him..? The last memory caused Xion to growl a little before making her choice and rushing at the blond.

The Nobody summoned his own keyblade just in time to block Xion's attack. "Xion! Stop it!" He exclaimed, jumping back. The woman ignored his calls and rushed at him again, forcing them both out into the open. Roxas realized that the only way to get her to stop would be to disarm her, so reluctantly he fought back, trying to force her weapon out of her hand without hurting her. As they fought, he noticed that she refused to use her left arm for much of anything, reminding him that there were still other people here besides the two.

Xion was exhausting quickly as she fought the blond, but she couldn't give in. As the two fought, a third person appeared, causing Xion and Roxas to back away from each other. "Number XIII... Roxas..." The blue-haired man glared. "Saix!" Roxas growled at the other man. "What have you done to her?!" He demanded.

"My name is Isa, and I have done nothing to it.. Unlike what I am going to do to you!" He snarled as he charged at Roxas. Xion moved away from the fighting tow, more confused now than she had been before. {They.. They're fighting..? Aren't they on the same side..?} She shook her head and ran away from the warring people, opening a corridor in front of her to anywhere.

Xion fell to her hands and knees when she reached the other side of the corridor. Tears fell from her face as she stared at the ground. More flashes of the blond entered her mind. She and Roxas watching the stars, holding hands with him. A kiss... "Who am I...?" She shakily whispered.


	2. Chapter 2: Brother

After a few minutes, Xion forced herself to calm down as she wiped her eyes. She had a dull headache though, and her left shoulder still hurt. She thought about everything that had happened in the past 4 hours since she had woken up, and frowned. All she knew was that a strange group of clocked men wanted her, but for what she was still unsure. {There's also the blond, Roxas I think his name was..? Who is he to me..?} She mentally asked herself, hoping to somehow trigger more memories.

As luck would have it, Xion didn't have to wait long for something to happen, though this was not what she had in mind. A black cloud formed in front of her, and a tall blond man materialized from that. The man's azure eyes sparkled happily when they focused on her and a smile formed on his face. "Welcome home."

Xion quickly got up and stepped away from the man. "Who...Who are you?" She asked quietly as her Keyblade formed in her right hand. Though the man didn't seem threatening, she just couldn't bring herself to trust him blindly.

The man's smile faded a little at Her question, but he wasn't surprised. He had a feeling that eventually he would have to deal with something like this. "Don't you remember me, Xion? Malik? Your brother?" He asked, knowing that he would have to press memory after memory on her for results. A confused look grew on her face and she shook her head slightly, taking a step back as her headache started to grow.

As she stepped away, he advanced forward. "What about your nieces and nephew? Minato? Kyoko? Yumi? Or my wife, Elwing?" He asked her. Xion, though she didn't think she recognized the names, continued her slow retreat as each name brought a slightly more powerful headache.

"What about your children? Kyo and Daisuke?" He asked, though a little red flag in his head went up and he caused black and white crystals to start forming in his hands. {I.. I have children..?} She asked herself mentally, her head too clouded from the headache to notice any sort of danger.

"How about your first husband? Kyle?" Malik asked, his determined azure eyes looking straight into Xion's confused and frustrated ones as the crystals in his hands formed beautiful black and white swords. She glanced at the swords and back up to his face, her distrust for the man growing as she retreated as much as she could before her back hit a wall.

Her growing fear was obvious to Malik and he stopped a few feet away from her. "What about your current lover? Roxas?" He asked a few minutes later. {Lover..?} Xion froze as her thoughts flashed towards the blond man she had met in the dark world she had been in before here. The blond that had fought the blue-haired man, Isa. Her thoughts also flashed towards the few memories that had returned to her about Roxas. {That's what he is to me...?}

"Well? Do you remember anything now?" He asked, noting that her expression had changed to an almost guilty one. She didn't respond to his question and looked away. "Is that a yes or no?" Malik pressed. "..Go away.." She quietly growled. "What's that? I can't hear you." He said with a blank face. Rather than repeat herself, she turned and started to walk away from him, along the wall.

He sighed and flicked his wrist towards the retreating woman, small black ribbons shooting at her from his fingers. Though Xion's senses were dulled by her massive headache, she was able to sense the attack and pull up a wall of light to defend herself, growling angrily. "I really don't want to hurt you, Little Sister.." He said as he glanced around. "Then leave me alone!" She hissed angrily. "I cannot. Not until you remember," Malik sighed.

Xion growled and tensed to attack the blond man, but froze when she saw the dark corridor open up not far from her and Malik. Braig and Isa walked through the corridor, Isa looking slightly beat up. {What happened to Roxas..?} She mentally asked herself, her guilt for fleeing grew. "We can take Poppet from here," Braig said, smirking.

Within seconds, Malik was between Xion and the men. "Yeah.. No. Not gonna happen," He said, twirling the swords in his hands idly as he glared. "It doesn't belong to you.." Isa growled as he summoned his claymore while Braig summoned his Arrowguns. "It's a good idea to leave, Little Sister.." He said to Xion as she opened up a dark corridor and hurried through. "Things are about to get messy."

* * *

It was mid afternoon in Twilight Town, but because of the shorter days of winter, the sun was giving off the last of it's light as it dipped behind the horizon. Minato had been watching the children all day for Roxas, but had a feeling that something was off. He looked out at the snow covered ground and seconds later a dark corridor opened up.

Minato went outside in time to see Roxas stumble out, looking fairly beat up and ticked off. He had a nasty gash above his right eye, his coat was torn in several places, and smaller cuts and bruises littered his body. "What happened?" Minato asked as he hurried over to the Nobody. "Saïx, Isa, what ever his name is, he's after her... Xigbar is with him.." Roxas explained almost angrily as he wiped some blood out of his eye. "...She doesn't remember anyone..." He added quietly, worry and hurt filling his voice. Minato frowned and cast a curaga on the Nobody and helped him inside. "I'll find her.." He announced before opening a corridor and walking through to find his Aunt.


	3. Chapter 3: The Island

Xion came out of the dark corridor to find a beautiful island. She felt guilt for fleeing from a fight once more, and worried about the two blond men that had kept Isa away. Her head was still clouded by her headache and figured that it would be best to find a safe place to rest and try to get rid of her headache.

She wandered around for an hour and found a small cave. Thinking it was as good of a spot as any to rest, she walked in. Noting how small it was, she went to the far end of the cave and sat down against the wall, curling into a ball. It wasn't long before she started dozing off, her thoughts clouded by pain and exhaustion.

As Xion drifted into sleep, flashes of different people appeared in her dream. A brunette man with beautiful golden eyes and a loving smile; A dark haired girl with blue eyes with a smaller boy with the same brunette hair and golden eyes as the man; The blond man, Malik, with a raven haired woman and two twin girls; Another blond man with blue eyes that looked similar to Malik; The other blond man, Roxas, standing next to a tall man with fiery red hair.

The sun had begun to set when a blond man entered the island from a dark corridor. He had blue eyes and wore a white and black hoodie with blue jeans and black tennis shoes. He also carried a black backpack with him. The blond had no idea how long it would take for him to find his aunt, Xion, but he was prepared either way. He began to wander around the island and soon found small-ish foot prints in the sand and followed them to the mouth of a small cave. "Hello..?" He quietly called into the cave as he began to walk in.

Xion was startled awake by the soft voice and she quickly realized her mistake in hiding in the cave. She slowly rose from where she had been sitting and summoned her Keyblade to her hand. The woman was silent as she waited where she was, ignoring the exhaustion and pain she felt.

As the blond man walked into view, he raised his hands to show that he was unarmed and carefully took off the backpack and set it on the ground. He then sat down next to where Xion was standing. "At least you're okay.." He sighed as he glanced up at her. Minato knew that she wouldn't remember him... Xion moved away from the blond, but watched him cautiously. "...What do you want...?" She asked. The man hadn't done anything yet to make her distrust him, but after being found by the cloaked freaks, she didn't dare trust anyone...

"I'm here to help you, Xion... That's all... Just to help.." Minato replied, studying his aunt's face. She quickly looked away and tightened her grip on the Keyblade. "I don't need help." She growled softly. "Do you really believe that?" He asked softly. The raven haired woman just nodded, too proud to admit that she needed help.

"I don't believe you.." The blond stated as he suddenly stood up. "Why don't you let us help you..?" He asked sincerely. Xion quickly backed up against the wall before replying. "Because, for all I know, you could be one of the cloaked freaks that are hunting me!" Anger may have been the most notable emotion in her voice, but it was only there to disguise the fear that had been coursing through her for the past day since she had woken up alone.

"Well you're wrong... I'm not like them.." He started as he began to walk towards the scared Memory Being. "We're family Xion... If you honestly don't believe that," He carefully took the end of her Keyblade and pointed it at his chest, "Then strike me down..."

Xion hesitated and looked up into the man's saddened yet hopeful eyes. She didn't know what or who to believe, and didn't know anything about the man other than she had seen him in her dreams, but... Did she dare take the risk? "...So what's it going to be...?" He asked after several moments. The woman just growled and desummoned her Keyblade as she pushed the man away and began walking towards the entrance of the cave.

Almost instantly, Minato teleported in front of Xion, who squeaked and took a step back. "Xion, wait.." He pleaded.

"No! Now get out of my way!" She growled.

"No. I'm not going to do that," Minato said as he shook his head.

"Why not?!" Xion growled in frustration. She just wanted to be left alone for a while..

"..If it were me, you would've done the same..." He stated softly, triggering memories of Xion and the man, being there for each other with battles, loneliness, and grieving. Xion shook her head and his her eyes behind her hair as she blinked back tears. "I~I don't know that..." She whispered back.

"Yes, you do.." He said, taking a step forward.

"No I don't!" She growled and pushed past the man. He then grabbed her wrist. "I'm sorry Xion.. I can't just let you walk away.." Xion growled as she pulled her arm free and blasted the blond back with a wave of light magic. "Stay away.." She warned as she turned and left the cave.

Minato flew back and hit the back of the cave hard. Groaning, he slowly got up and frowned. "Looks like she's serious.." He muttered sadly. He knew that his aunt was vulnerable as she was, and decided to go after her once more.

Xion walked down the beach, too tired to open up a dark corridor, but not wanting to stay near the blond man that had claimed that she was family. Her thoughts drifted to her dream and then to what Minato had said. _'If it were me, you would've done the same...' _

Suddenly, Minato teleported in front of her once again. "Please... Let me help you..." He asked, though it almost sounded like he was begging her to go with him.

"No!" Xion growled as she summoned her Keyblade to her hands once again.

"I see how it is... Guess I don't really have a choice... Xion, you're going to come with me..." He sighed as he held out his hand, where his Keyblade, Destiny's Embrace, formed. "Conscious or not..."

Xion growled and got into a defensive stance, she was too proud to listen to her common sense and just go with the blond. The woman was too tired to go offensive, but she felt that she could put up a better defense as long as she could evade his attacks. Minato suddenly swung his Keyblade at her, casting a powerful Aeroga at her and launching her back as he rushed at her. She quickly caught herself and countered with a Rapid Firaga. Minato dodge rolled out of the way of the three fast flying fire balls before quickly casting a Thundaga at Xion. The raven haired woman in turn dodged the attack before countering with a Blizzaga.

The blond man launched a Firaga of his own, creating a large cloud of steam as the powerful fire and ice magic met. Xion looked around, trying to see through the steam. As she looked around, Minato rushed at her through the steam and cast a Thundara. The attack hit it's mark, sending jolts of electricity through the woman, temporarily stunning her. Minato then tackled Xion to the ground, pinning her down with his weight. Xion feebly struggled underneath him, in too much pain to put up much more of a fight. Though the shock from her opponent's Thundara had worn off, her already sore and injured left shoulder felt like it was on fire.

"Xion! Stop it! Why won't you let me help you?!" Minato shouted. He looked like he was ready to cry... "I... I just can't..." Xion whispered as she looked away. Her fear and anger had melted back into her growing guilt. "Why not?" He asked, wanting to know what held her back from trusting him. "...Get off.." Xion half growled, refusing to look at the blond.

"No," Minato stated firmly.

"Please.. Get off and go away..." Xion responded softly as she closed her eyes.

"Xion, Im not leaving.. If you got hurt or worse... I wouldn't be able to forgive myself.." He admitted just as softly.

"Please.." She begged, her voice beginning to shake.

"...They wouldn't forgive me if I did..." Minato said, thinking about his father, Malik, and his best friend, Roxas.

"What good am I if I can't remember anyone...? All it would do is cause more pain for everyone else..." Xion whispered, trying to keep from breaking down into the desperation that she so clearly felt. Minato said nothing, wondering what to do; she needed help but she didn't want it. She didn't want to hurt anyone even at the expense of her own happiness..

After a few moments, Minato got up and offered a hand to Xion, whom ignored the hand and sat up, looking away as she carefully rubbed her injured shoulder. The blond looked down at the ground and back up at Xion. "What are you going to do..?" He asked softly.

"...I'll figure it out..." She quietly replied as she pulled herself to her feet. "What about you..? What are you going to do..?" Xion asked, hoping that she had pushed this man away enough for him to leave her.

"I came here to find you and help you any way I can.. That's what I'm going to do.." He stated, too stubborn to leave when he knew that his aunt was safer with him around.

"I don't need help.." Xion growled softly as she turned and started walking away. "That's what you think..." Minato muttered as he started to follow her. Xion heard his footsteps behind her and growled a little louder. "Leave me alone."

"Oh, shut it." Minato shot at her. "I'm going to stay with you until you remember." Xion huffed irritably and continued to walk, searching for a place to rest for the night as the sun was dipping behind the horizon. Preferably for a spot with only room enough for herself.

It wasn't long before the raven haired woman found a small ledge on the side of a cliff near a large tree house like building. She quickly climbed up to the ledge and smiled when she found that there was just enough room for her to curl up.

As Xion curled up, facing away from Minato, he called up to her. "When are you going to let me help you?" She ignored his question though and quickly drifted into a deep sleep, taunted by bits and pieces of her old life. Minato sighed angrily and sat at the base of a nearby tree, in a meditative position, refusing to sleep, but also wondering what to do about his aunt.


End file.
